Durbin Refuses To Let It Out Of Committee

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) will shut down this week unless the U.S. Senate approves a reauthorization bill before then, or unless funding is included in a new continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the end of the year.

For more than a decade, an independent, statutory monitor has been advising the U.S. executive and legislative branches on international religious freedom, drawing attention to the persecution of people of faith under Muslim, communist and autocratic regimes from Riyadh to Rangoon.

Last September the House of Representatives passed by an overwhelming vote a bill extending the USCIRF’s life for another two years. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where it has been held up, by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), according to published reports.

A key function of the USCIRF has been its recommendations for the State Department to designate “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) under the International Religious Freedom Act, the same 1998 legislation that created the commission.

The Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations all followed some recommendations, but not others. The Obama State Department recently overruled USCIRF recommendations to designate Pakistan, Vietnam, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria and Turkmenistan as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs), in addition to those currently on the list (Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.)

CPCs are countries whose governments either perpetrate or condone “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” abuses of religious freedom. The U.S. may impose sanctions or take other diplomatic steps as incentives to improve.

Once again Barack Obama and the Democrats are showing their disdain if not hatred for Christianity.  We certainly don't want to upset Godless Muslin terrorists.

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